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<title>It's The Small Things by Vinyl_Metalhead (SkeletonGirl89)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28086231">It's The Small Things</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkeletonGirl89/pseuds/Vinyl_Metalhead'>Vinyl_Metalhead (SkeletonGirl89)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Metallica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble Collection, Fran is brought up in chapters 3 &amp; 4, M/M, One Word Prompts, Swearing, Through the Years, so if you don't want to read about her I would skip those parts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:28:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>787</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28086231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkeletonGirl89/pseuds/Vinyl_Metalhead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Random James/Lars Drabbles that are 100+ words.</p><p> </p><p>  <strong>I'll keep updating when I have more finished.</strong></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Prompt: Home</p><p>Era: SKOM</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>James was pissed when he found out that Lars decided to sell the house without telling him, after all, it wasn’t just Lars’ house but his as well. His tools and most of his cars occupied the 4 car garage, his clothes took up the other half of the master closet. He was the one who would have the TV on to watch the Raiders game even though Lars preferred the 49ers. He was the one who made dinner most nights if they weren’t both dead tired from being in the studio all day. </p><p>Now, a year after he went to rehab, the only thing he had to show for it was his belongings in boxes in his office with a handwritten note from Lars, <em>Sold the house. I’ll send you your shit eventually. </em>Like he didn’t matter. It was as if he and Lars hadn’t been together since ’83. Lars had just started treating him like James Hetfield of <em>Metallica</em>, not James; Lars' first well everything. <em>Min elskede,</em> Lars used to mumble next to him before falling into a dreamless sleep. Thinking about that, it was the only thing that helped James sleep at night while he was in rehab.</p><p>But with time came acceptance of the situation, he not only needed to work on himself but also him and Lars. And soon, given a few months of therapy, eventually day by day his things would make their way back into the house that <em>both</em> he and Lars chose. As the album went on to be finished and the tour started, he was quick to realize that home wasn’t the house, it was Lars. It was the feeling of his arms around Lars’ shoulders, the feeling of a warm bed before opening his eyes to see the small sometimes fragile body next to him that gave him the greatest sense of home he could hold onto. Home was a <em>person</em>, not a place.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You can find me on Tumblr @<a href="https://metalvinylgeek.tumblr.com/">metalvinylgeek</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Coffee</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Prompt: Coffee</p><p>Era: Post-St. Anger</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>James stopped drinking coffee after coming back from rehab, alcohol was a problem, but he knew that if he wasn’t careful caffeine would soon take its place. So, every morning while Lars had a cup of coffee, he would take in the smell of the coffee beans, appreciating the scent in the crisp California air. But never giving into the temptation to have a cup himself.</p><p>He would take a seat on the couch with Lars before tucking his chin into Lars’ shoulder while Lars drank his morning coffee and would just appreciate this; Lars, the smell of the coffee, and the peace that came with being there in the moment.</p><p>After they got home from tour, Lars would ask if he wanted a cup of coffee and James would just shake his head no before pulling in Lars a bit closer. A kiss on the forehead, a peck to Lars’ cheek, giving one of his hands an affectionate squeeze before disappearing to start the day off working on his latest project away from Metallica. Lars would eventually stop asking, and just start to appreciate the quiet mornings spent together.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Doubt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This part is set in a semi-canon compliment AU, and will have a part 2. I do bring up James's wife in this, so if you don't want to read about her I would suggest you skip these eventual two parts.</p>
<p>Prompt: Doubt</p>
<p>Era: Mission Metallica</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>James didn’t know when he started looking at Lars differently, he felt like it should have been around ’96 or ’97, when Lars would have been referred to as pretty, at least pretty for a man. Slicked back hair and eyeliner which even to this day he wouldn’t understand. But he guessed it was just a look. Everyone in the band had them, himself especially.<br/><br/>He didn’t know when he started looking at Fran differently, it wasn’t that he didn’t find his wife beautiful anymore or that he didn’t want to sleep with her. It was that he now realized that he was at a different place in his life, he still loved his children and he liked that he was married but some mornings he would have his eyes closed, still dreaming and feel a hand against his arm before slowly opening his eyes expecting to see Lars next to him, all short brown hair and soft almost childlike round face and then the stark difference of blonde long hair and more feminine features almost through him off.</p>
<p>The contrast, the difference made him start questioning things. When did he start to think about Lars as more than a friend, more than a brother, more than the person he was married to in a musical sense? Why now? Was it all the time spent apart from Lars?<br/><br/>Was it that they were older and wiser, and James now knew what he <em>really</em> wanted?<br/><br/>But he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t leave his marriage for the uncertainty of being with Lars when he didn’t even know if there was a him and Lars.</p>
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